Stones of Remembrance

by Christian Winter

 I know what you must thinking. Two updates from Christian in one week? He's a madman! Don't worry my sanity is intact, I just love you lots! I've been getting into new rhythms these past few months and I'm finally starting to hit my stride! So you better be expecting to hear from me more than once in a blue moon! (Maybe twice or thrice)

               I hope your Thanksgiving was awesome and full of fun with family and friends. This was my third Thanksgiving in a row here in Kona and it was so awesome for me to reflect. I have been around many of the same people for years and so many stories with each of them. When I see them, I'm reminded of how far we've come and how much more there is to come.

               I can't remember who, but I heard someone talking about stones of remembrance from the Old Testament. These were stones that God commanded Israel to make in areas where He did something significant (e.g. when Israel crossed the Jordan). Now in the New Covenant, we are living stones of remembrance being used to build the house of God (1 Peter 2:5). 

When God laid the foundations of the earth,
hung the stars in place,
set the planets in their orbits,
halted the proud waves on the shore,
wrapped the sea in clouds of mist,
and taught the dawn to take the earth by its edges,
all of the angels shouted for joy at the magnificent display of God’s glory and power in Creation!

When have you, too, shouted for joy over the display of God’s glory wrapped up in His character in each day of every year for your entire life?

In Luke 19:40 Jesus said, “If we keep quiet (and don’t praise God), the stones will cry out.” Why would you and I remain silent, forfeiting to stones the joy of praising God for what He has done?

Samuel used stones as a memorial when God’s people wanted to remember His goodness and faithfulness. First Samuel 7:12 says that when God enabled the Israelites to defeat the Philistines, the Prophet Samuel “took a stone and … named it Ebenezer, saying, ‘Thus far has the Lord helped us.'”

Joshua also used stones to help God’s people remember His goodness. After wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, the Israelites experienced the power of God to roll back the waters of the Jordan River, enabling them to cross over and take possession of the Promised Land. Joshua then commanded them to build a memorial of stones as a public testimony of what God had done for them … stones that would remind them to keep on praising Him. - Sourced from Billy Graham.Org

Read Joshua 3 and 4 in your Bible

Take a moment and look over the times in your life where God has been faithful and good. His goodness shows up more than you realize. Praising Him reminds us of His faithfulness. Let us never stop praising the name of our Lord!